The Kiwanis Club of New Kingston (KCNK) is a group of professional and businesswomen who came together 27 years ago to give service through the first all-female club in the Kiwanis movement in Jamaica.

KCNK will be hosting its 17th Annual Charity Golf Tournament on Saturday, November 12, 2016 at the prestigious Constant Spring Golf and Country Club. This year’s tournament will be an 18-hole Stableford Tournament, with a shotgun start at 7:00 am.

The annual charity golf tournament has become a major event on the Jamaica Golf Association’s Calendar and will, once again, feature David Mais as the tournament director. The theme this year is “Tee Off for Charity with KCNK — Follow Through For Kids with Sickle Cell”, and part proceeds from this year’s tournament will be used to support increased awareness and education of this ailment, as well as to improve the lives of those who currently suffer from its impact.

Genetic diseases, especially hereditary blood disorders such as sickle cell disease (SCD) are a significant problem in Jamaica. Every 150 children born in Jamaica will have some form of sickle cell, one in every 300 births will have sickle cell anaemia, and one in 500 births will be a carrier for sickle cell. Furthermore, 15 per cent of the population is at risk for sickle cell disease.

While the condition can be adequately managed and some persons affected by the condition are able to live to their full potential, there is a lack of knowledge about the disease and as a result, considerable stigma and discrimination associated with the condition. Most individuals are unaware that they are carriers for SCD and in turn can therefore pass this condition on to their children, particularly where their partners are also sickle cell carriers.

Lack of adequate funding has prevented sickle cell organisations, such as the Sickle Cell Unit of the University of the West Indies and the Sickle Cell Support Foundation of Jamaica (SCSFJ), from rolling out an effective public education campaign in a more organised and structured way. SCSFJ is in dire need of financial support and manpower to effectively serve the approximate 260,000 persons in Jamaica who are carriers of the sickle cell trait, along with their families. They have had great difficulties raising funds to meet their day-to-day operating costs and maintain their outreach programme to the sickle cell community.

One of the major thrusts of this project by the Kiwanis Club of New Kingston will therefore be to support an increase in the Public Education/Awareness Programme on Sickle Cell Anaemia. KCNK will be working with the Sickle Cell Unit and the SCSFJ to undertake a number of activities including the:

Production and distribution of an illustrated story book for children titled Me Too… A Sickle Cell Story;

Installation of billboards at high visibility points throughout Jamaica;

Production of a public information broadcast programme for airing on television and radio aimed at getting individuals to ascertain their sickle cell status, the general impact and treatment of sickle cell; and hosting of seminars, forums and general presentations across the island, including our schools.